My Misadventure
by PsychoWrites
Summary: My name is from a pornographic novel called Icha Icha Paradise, I have an irrational fear of butterflies, my new job is to help the Hokage with her paperwork and I think I'm falling in love with the most ... unique ninja I have ever met. Lee/OC
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter One**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Beaver Tails. In fact, I don't own most of the exotic foods you'll hear about throughout the whole story.**

The window in my kitchen was broken. It refused to shut. One innocent day, I was hot while cooking so I opened it. Later, I discovered it wouldn't close. It wasn't that bad, considering it was the middle of the summer and golden rays of sunlight were pouring into my apartment. There was no balcony near the window and I was on the third floor of a five story building complex so there wasn't really any risk of anyone breaking in and stealing anything. Unless that person was a shinobi but if they were, they could simply break my lock. And if a normal thief got in, well, he probably worked so hard to get in that he deserved whatever he stole. Still, I would get it fixed soon.

I pondered over whether or not it was the kind of job you needed someone specialized to fix as I quietly drank my coffee.

Unlike most people, I am a complete morning person. I love how the light slowly peaks from the horizon after hours of darkness. I love the fresh smell of the morning. I love drinking my coffee. Most of all I love the calm quietness of it all.

Yet, all good tings must come to an end. I put my now empty coffee mug into the sink and brushed my teeth. Once I was in the clear, I locked my door and started the nice walk to work. My mother had always told me to fully appreciate the little things in life so I had come to notice little things about my day that I loved. Little things that people barely even thought about.

My name is Okasawa Korela. Whereas my family name is boring, my mother stressed out for four months, trying to find a decent unusual name for me. She ran across the name Korela in a book. It wasn't even a good book. Some stupid pornographic romance novel called Icha Icha Paradise. What was my mother _thinking_ when sheread that crap anyway?! Then again, when I mentioned it to my father, he just giggled so I guess it's one of the many things I'm better off not knowing.

I work at my parent's exotic food restaurant. When they first started it while I was, like, five, it was small. But, as it turns out, exotic food is getting more and more popular.

The walk from my apartment to work was nice, as I said before. Shops were opening with employees fresh for another day of work, a soft, sweet scent coming from the Yamanaka flower shop, shinobi bouncing from rooftops, young children racing to school.

Yep, I'm a genuine morning person.

When I reached the restaurant, I saw the girl I was training, Michiru, had already arrived and was nervously playing with the hem of the uniform's black dress. I smiled sympathetically. She smiled back weakly. I knew the feeling. She was shy like me but after a few more days, her shyness wouldn't apply to work anymore.

I changed quickly so she could have something to do soon. After living with my easily stressed out mother, I found that people would tend to calm down as long as they had something to do.

As I instructed her to help me set up the tables for breakfast, one of our other waitresses marched in. I grinned at Aurelie, my best friend. Her name was taken from a fairytale. Lucky.

Everyone loved Aurelie. Some guys visited the restaurant just to ask for a glass of water from her (which she would spit in more often than not). She was downright sexy, rude enough to be spunky, witty and somehow loveable. I always felt like I should be jealous but when you love someone, you don't really have jealousy for them. Not as much anyway. It's because they're themselves and they love you the way you are, just like you love them.

"Hey Kobra. Seen any killer butterflies lately?"

Kobra was her nickname for me because I was once attacked by a garden snake for no apparent reason at her house. I also had an irrational fear of butterflies.

"No but I did see this guy with an amazing mustache. I gave him your name and number Goat Girl." Tragically, the fairytale girl she was named after was turned into a goat throughout the story. Aurelie was also freaked out by men with mustaches. It wasn't a phobia but they scared her. Something about hair growing in unnatural places.

"Good, when he calls, I set up a date, murder him when he arrives and hide the body in the bathtub. One less of them in the world. If anyone asks, 'Oh! So _that's _why he was taking so long in the bathroom'." Everyone fooled around like this with friends. The only friend I fooled around with like this was Aurelie. She was special to me.

My father poked his head out of the kitchen. "What's this I hear about murder?"

I loved this restaurant. There was always a friendly atmosphere, something I believed was extremely important. My parents cooked every exotic recipe they could get their hands on. My personal favorite was Beaver Tails. It was a dessert made of an oval shaped piece of dough, roughly the length of my forearm that was deep fried in hot oil. It came with tons of topping but the best two were having it covered in cinnamon with hot pieces of apple or covered with a buttery chocolate sauce with pieces of slices bananas. It came from a small village in the Grass I believe.

Aurelie opened up the restaurant just as Michiru and I finished putting the menus on the tables. Nobody would come in for a few minutes so we sat together in a small corner where we could see and be seen by the customers. During the conversation, I was happy to see Aurelie and Michiru warming up to each other. It had worried me a bit because the last waitress I had trained had gotten into a cat fight with Aurelie. Yeah, if Aurelie didn't like you, she could be a bitch. She hadn't liked me at first yet now we were best friends. But I was the exception, not the rule. The Aurelie-doesn't-like-you-so-get-the-fuck-out rule. Kyouka was serving some of our first customers so when a small group of ninja came in, I quietly got up and went to them. The blond girl looked slightly familiar.

"Welcome to Okasawa's! If you would follow me, I could get you seated."

They followed me as I put them next to a window. I took my pad out from my apron pocket and put down the table number along with the seats as I asked what they would like to drink.

The blond girl ordered a glass of orange juice, the pineapple haired one on her right ordered a coffee and the larger one across from her ordered the same as both of them and a glass of milk.

It was as I as preparing their drinks that I overheard the other waitress, Yuki, exclaim to Kyouka, "Hey, isn't that the Ino-Shika-Cho trio from Rookie 9?" As she said it, I suddenly remembered why the blond girl looked so familiar. Of course! She probably worked at the Yamanka flower shop. Ino Yamanaka. That was her name. I passed the shop about twice a day. I felt like hitting myself on the forehead.

Over the course of the next few days, I would see the chubbier ninja in here, occasionally accompanied by a friend. Apparently, the exotic food was to his tastes, though by the way he ate, I guessed anything was. He would sometimes yell out at my Dad when something was really good, getting on my father's good side. My father loved to have his ego stroke. Aurelie seemed to find Chouji really funny, from the way he ate and acted I think. The guy had even warmed up on me too, though that wasn't saying much. I warmed up to nearly anybody unless I got really bad vibes from them. Some people were actually freaked out by it.

Two Week Later –

I smiled at the cashier as I finished paying before gathering my bags. There were three large brown paper bags filled with groceries. Until I moved out of my parent's house, I'd never truly realized how expensive living really was. Then again, I didn't buy just anything for food. I was obsessed with good quality stuff, like my father.

Thank god I could carry them. It would have been a mess otherwise. They were heavy but I didn't live far from here. That's why I loved my apartment. It was small but close to everything. Perfect, considering I lived alone. Also, the noise of the town helped me write. I don't know why but when I'm doing nothing, I like silence, but when I'm trying to sleep or write, I need some background noise.

And, of course, as I walked the streets, I did the one thing that always seems to happen, but never to me. I tripped. My sandals, though cute and bulky, were actually quite heavy so I didn't lift my foot high enough as I was walking and tumbled face first. I hit the ground and held my cheek which was throbbing in pain for an instant before rushing to pick up my things back up. This was embarrassing. People giggled as they walked around me. Yeah, gather round and see the girl who tripped over nothing.

Someone started helping me pick up my stuff but I just quickened my pace, not daring to even glance at the person. God this was embarrassing. Did I ever mention that I hate being the center of attention? At least the brown paper bags hadn't broken so I could still reload my stuff into them.

When we were done picking up my stuff, I mustered up enough courage to look the person in the face, my own face still red. My eyes met a guys surprisingly round eyes as he grinned at me. His teeth were so white they blinded me for a moment.

"Would you like some help carrying your stuff Miss?" He said in a loud, energetic tone, as I took in his green spandex suit, the dark green jonin vest and the red shinobi headband tied around his waist. As I realized what he had offered, I reddened even more and shook my head furiously. "No thank you! Really, it'll be fine." I exclaimed, hoping I sounded convincing enough. To my dismay, he shook his head, "I refused to let such a nice girl carry such heavy bags!"

Nice girl? He didn't even know me. It was nice to hear though. Hey, I am a girl! I would've preferred carry my own stuff but seeing the look of determination on his face, I handed him a bag reluctantly and took the other two in my arms. I nearly jumped when he grabbed the heaviest bag from my arms, claiming he was more than strong enough to carry it.

The walk to my apartment would have been awkward, had he not been so outgoing. He asked me at least a dozen questions, which I hesitated to answer at first but by the time we reached my apartment, he was making me giggle. Not straight out laughing but giggling was a start. His name was Rock Lee but that was pretty much all I had discovered about him. I unlocked my door and made him give me my bags before I actually opened the door. He waited for me to get inside the apartment where I said "Goodbye Lee-san". He took this as his cue to leave and hopped off the balcony, yelling "Goodbye Korela-san!" Though it was weird to see someone jump off my balcony, I giggled and waved slightly with my somewhat free hand, even though I knew he couldn't see it.


	2. Chapter 2

**I have one thing to say. I would appreciate it if people would read the author's notes I put. I rarely put them up but when I do, it'll normally mean that it's important. I know people tend to ignore them but don't worry; I have no intention of filling you in on my personal life. Thanks you.**

At some point in life, we'd all had to move on, whether it was from dolls, old friends, lovers etc. It happens but despite it, you feel sad. You know you have to do it but you want to put it off.

For me, I was going to have to quit for the restaurant. Well, I didn't _have to,_ per say. I felt that I needed to move on though. I was 21 and I'd worked there since I was 16. I needed a change.

So that why I was currently preparing myself to go job searching. Alright, it was more mental than physical. I was well dressed though. Not classy but a nice casual look, a bit of mascara, a smudge of lipstick. No perfume though, I was allergic. Yeah, I know, a girl allergic to _perfume._ I'd put on a red shirt with breezy sleeves and tan capris. To avoid incidents like the one three days ago, I put on a pair of white flip-flops instead of my much loved bulky sandals. I didn't tie my wavy hair like I normally did.

I had a brown backpack with me that contained a folder with all my papers in it and my wallet. I flipped through the part with the available jobs as I headed to wards the Hokage tower. The highest paying job had been there. It hadn't specified what the function was though. Weird. I thought only ninjas worked at the Hokage tower. Stupid.

When I arrived there, they sent me over to Shizune, the Hokage's assistant. She looked somewhat nervous, as though I was about to dart of.

She was making _me _nervous.

I handed her my papers which she only glanced at quickly before asking me a few questions. "Why do you want to work here?" I blinked, strange question to ask someone who didn't even know what job they were applying to. I told her I wanted a change. She asked me a few more questions. The last one was how I felt about paperwork. When she asked it, she stared at me. I once again felt like she was expecting me to run off. How many people rejected this job? I told her I was fine with paperwork though. It was true; I always got good grades on written work when I was at school. The presentations went considerably less well.

That's when she gestured for me to follow her. "We've been looking for someone for a while now. Most people who came to apply changed their minds nearly right away, even those who said they were fine with paperwork. I just want to tell you that you can still reject the job once you see what it is." Oh great, way to make me even more even more nervous. She led me down a short series of corridors and up quite a few flights of stairs. Ha, the Hokage was at the top of the tower. Wait, we were heading towards the top. She was taking me to see the Hokage!? I asked her if she was. Shizune grimaced and replied, "Unfortunately." Thank you Shizune, for making me feel _so _much better.

Why was the Hokage at the _top_ of the tower? I mean sure, being at the top is cool, but it's a lot more dangerous than being ground level and there were _a lot_ of stairs to climb. Maybe not for a ninja, they could always climb up from the side of the building but what about us loveably normal people? No, you're not a ninja so you're going to get some exercise by climbing the stairs. The people who build this tower were really inconsiderate. What do you wanna bet that they were ninjas too?

No, I don't _really_ have anything against ninjas. The only ninjas who were actually mean to me were the academy students back when I was in public school. Ninja students seemed to find it amusing to tease and pull pranks on other kids who weren't going to be something cool like a ninja. I used to cry a lot about that when I was little.

When we arrived to the top, a lot of stairs later, Shizune entered the office without asking for permission, though I guess she was entitled to it, being the Hokage's assistant and all. I'd never been in the Hokage's office and I'd always imagined that it'd be full of weapons and war trophies and maybe have bloodstains on the wall. I was mildly surprised to see it looked just like a regular office. Of course, the bloodstains could have been cleaned. Hmmm. There were piles among piles of paperwork. You think you've seen a lot of paperwork? You haven't until you see the Hokage's pile. And the blonde woman was there at the desk, but she wasn't doing paperwork. No, she had her head slammed against the desk and was clutching a bottle of sake in the other hand. No wonder they needed someone to do the paperwork, the Hokage didn't do it herself. I jumped when Shizune scolded the Hokage in a loud voice, not exactly screaming but nearly there.

"Shouldn't. You. Be. Doing. Your. Paperwork?" she seethed, though I got the impression that she was used to this. Tsunade simply lifted her head, looking tired and hung-over, which she probably was. Who in their right mind gets drunk in their office? Shizune introduced me. "This is Okasawa Korela and she's here to apply for the paperwork assistant job. The paperwork _assistant job._ Which means you cannot make her do everything. She's here to help not die from exhaustion." From the way the Hokage looked at me though, with a certain gleam in her eyes, I got the feeling that she had every intention to work me to death. And so, I was torn between the possibility of my death but an awesome pay, and the continuation of my job search. I mean, how hard could those papers be? So, I accepted the job. Shizune looked thrilled. This meant something would finally get done here.

I wonder if I had just sealed my doom.

I was to come in tomorrow to work. The hours weren't that bad, I work Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 8 to 5. Well, that hadn't taken nearly as long as I'd thought it would.

-o-

Now that I thought about it, you know what one of the other advantages of this job was? I could wear pretty much what I wanted. No uniform. I mean, my parent's restaurant's uniform wasn't really all that bad but at some point, you get sick of wearing the same thing every day. It was really hot today so I figured that the Hokage wouldn't mind if I had on a pair of shorts. I don't think she'd even notice, so I pulled on purple shorts and a white t-shirt with big purple writing on it along with my white flip flops for shoes. They were actually my only flip flops. Before leaving, I also grabbed my thermos filled with coffee. Ha, we were aloud to drink coffee there too. As you can see, I'm pretty addicted to coffee.

I left earlier than normally because I was going to have to take a new route and I wanted to take everything in. Strange, I know. Once I got to the dreaded stairs inside the Hokage tower, I sighed but continued up them without a second thought. I only wondered if they had a coffee machine here since my thermos supply was getting dangerously low. Once I got to Tsunade's office, I deposited my things next to the desk and sat down on a smaller separate desk that was facing a different direction than the Hokage's desk. I'm guessing this was so when ninjas came for missions, I wouldn't be in the way. There was already a stack of paperwork on it. Tsunade herself was doing some paperwork, but from what I could see, she was doing it slowly and drinking along the way. Not enough to be drunk but honestly, how much could a person drink?

Some people may have wondered at some point what kind of paperwork could keep a world leader so busy. They might've thought, 'Surely there can't be that many subjects to keep the Hokage busy.' Trust me, there were. All ninja missions have to be read (Tsunade did that part though), renovations any civilians had to do were to be signed by the Hokage, births or deaths had to be classified and confirmed to make the proper documents, events had to be verified etc. Sure lots of these were handled by other people but Konoha was a huge village. Besides, the Hokage had to personally sign a lot of these documents. My job was to fill out the rest of the form then let Tsunade sign it.

We worked mostly in silence apart from when I asked about the coffee machine. The answer wasn't quite what I had hoped for. "Sure we have a coffee machine, down the stairs." Great. I had been working for nearly 2 hours now though and this seemed like a nice opportunity to stretch my legs.

The tower was smaller than you'd expect so it only took me a few minutes to locate the coffee machine. I clicked on the brew button and waited for the hot drink to pour into my thermos.

"KORELA-SAN!" someone screamed, dangerously close to my ear, making me shriek a little and flinch. I turned to see who the crazy person who screamed in people's ears and knew my name was to find that it was Rock Lee, the guy that had helped me with my groceries the other day. "Hello, Lee-san, I didn't expect to see you here." I said, smiling slightly, seeing the huge grin on his face that I suspected was always there. He seemed like a really cheery guy. I felt bad for nearly forgetting he existed.

"Why are you at the Hokage tower Korela-san?" he asked. I quickly explained my new job to him. He seemed to find it great. "I was going to the top of the Hokage tower. Let me take you up there Korela-san!" he said, with fire in his eyes. Seriously, determined balls of fire appeared where his round eyes should have been. "What do you mean 'take me up to the Hokage tower'?" I asked skeptically as I twisted the cap onto my thermos. "I shall give you a ride up the long line of stairs!" And on that note, he somehow hoisted me onto his back and started running.

Believe it or not, I've made a list of awkward events of my life. Awkward event number 1: Finding condoms in my parent's bathroom when I was 8 and asking what they were for. Surprisingly, the most awkward part came when my father actually tried to explain, "Well, you see Korela, when a man and a woman love each other very much, the man will," He got that far before my mother hit him with a bowl. Filled with pudding. Yeah, Daddy had to take a shower and there was no desert that night.

Anyways, this event was definitely going on my list. It didn't seem to be awkward for Lee, just another goal, but for me, it was beyond awkward to be given a piggyback ride by a complete stranger. He was actually pretty strong even though he wasn't as bulky has many other ninjas. He was really quick too. We made it up the stairs in like, ten seconds. Thank god he didn't barge into the office with me on his back though. Tsunade would've wondered and that would've been another awkward moment for my list. I was trying to keep that list to a minimum. Also, I was very thankful that I didn't drop my thermos.

He'd helped me with my groceries, managed to walk me home without a single pause for silence and now had just given me a piggyback ride up the Hokage tower.

Who was this guy?!


	3. Chapter 3

I slipped quietly into the office and went back to my desk with Lee behind me. He didn't go to my desk; instead, he went to the front of Tsunade's desk and waited only a little while for his teammates to arrive. I filled out more forms but every once in a while, I would feel him looking at me. When I looked up and met his eyes, unlike most people who would've looked away, he flashed me a bright smile that made his teeth glimmer and gave me a thumbs up. It was sort of funny and brought a smile to my face.

His teammates arrived only a minute after he had. One was a pretty girl with brown hair in buns and rosy cheeks; Lee's other teammate was an extremely pale guy with long dark hair. Tsunade assigned them an escort mission for tomorrow. Actually, the meeting was nothing special and Tsunade had two similar meeting in the same morning. The only difference was that Lee was there and he kept making me laugh, either by his determination or his gestures. His teammates shot me a few strange looks.

-o-

I have an hour for lunch break. I'm guilty, I'll admit it. When I saw Lee's bowl cut head go into a small restaurant, I couldn't resist following him in to see what kind of food he ate. It was a ramen shop. He sat down next to a blond guy who was talking quite loudly to a sweet looking violet haired girl sitting next to him. The funny thing was, these two people seemed like polar opposites, light, dark; shy, outgoing; but they were holding hands and the girl's face was tinted with pink. She seemed to be the kind of person who shied away from a relationship. In contrast, the blond boy was clutching her hand as though he wanted to make sure she didn't go away. I doubted she would.

This was all very romantic and nearly made me swoon but a second later, _I _was the one turning red, only it was from embarrassment. Lee had seen me and called me over, "Korela-san!" he waved to me and since I was looking directly at him, I couldn't leave and pretend not to have seen him. The cute couple also turned to me, causing me to redden even more. I shuffled over nervously and sat down tensely next to Lee.

Great, now I feel like a stalker.

"Coincidence seeing you here Korela-san." Said Lee, smiling brightly as the blond haired buy continued eating his ramen. "Yeah, I get a lunch break," I replied, though I wasn't sure I wanted to eat here after seeing the blond gobble his ramen down like that. I was probably staring at him weirdly because the pale eyed girl looked at me, "T-that's Naruto, s-sorry a-about his table-manners. M-my name's Hinata." She said shyly, stuttering a bit. It was actually quite endearing.

"I'm Korela, nice to meet you." The blond guy, Naruto, slurped one final time and looked at me with his piercing blue eyes. I nearly expected him to say something serious but when he turned to Lee, he asked, "So, is she your girlfriend Bushy Brows?" I turned red. I couldn't see it but I could feel my face flush, which probably only helped prove his point. Not that it was true. Instead of talking, I shook my head furiously as Lee exclaimed "No Naruto but Korela-san is a great person!" He didn't even blush or look slightly fazed or anything.

_That_ certainly made me feel attractive and if you can't detect the sarcasm, you're a twit.

The old man working behind the counter asked me what I would like to eat and I ordered a shrimp ramen. I hadn't ever really eaten here and it smelled so good that I decided to go for it, disgusted by Naruto's table manners or not. I rarely ever ate ramen anyway so this would be a nice change.

Lee and Naruto were the ones talking the most though occasionally Hinata would chip in. I pretty much only talked when they'd ask me a question. I wasn't as shy as Hinata but I didn't know how to include myself into the conversation. I wasn't even really supposed to be here.

When my food arrived, I ate at a quicker pace than normal. I'm pleased to report that it was the best ramen I'd ever had. Maybe I should eat ere more often. The noodles were soft and steaming, the soup was salty but not too much and the shrimp were firm and juicy. I could see why Naruto liked this place so much, though eating four in a row was a bit much. After I was done and had paid, I stood up, "Hey Lee? I've got to get back to work. Thank you for inviting me to eat with you." I said goodbye to Naruto and Hinata too before leaving and heading back towards to the Hokage tower.

The second I'd left, I felt more comfortable but I was sort of sad because they'd seemed like nice people. I'd especially liked Hinata. I hadn't spoken to her much but she seemed like a really kind person and would shoot me shy smiles when Naruto was being really nice.

I arrived back into the office and sat down at my desk. Tsunade was busy opening another bottle of sake when she looked up and sniffed the air. "You didn't eat at Ichiraku's did you?" I blinked. "Ichiraku's?" She nodded. "The ramen shop down there. Lord, you spend even five minutes in there and you smell like ramen for over an hour." She turned back to her bottle, which she took a gulp of once it had popped open.

When she wasn't looking, I took a whiff of my white tee shirt and grimaced. I did smell like salt and noodles.

At about 4:30, I heard a thump and looked up, expecting Tsunade to have lied down on the desk again. She did, but this time she also spilled some sake on documents I had just recently filled out.

"Tsunade-sama!" I jumped up as she lifted her head. I snatched the papers away and tried to wipe off the sake but only spread it. I then settled for waving them wildly in the air to make them dry. Tsunade looked at me in boredom before grabbing them back and checking on them. "Just for some nobleman, no big deal." And she just waved it off. Just like that. I guess that when you received forms from the Hokage, you didn't really care that they were sake stained.

Tsunade laid her head on her arms and stared out the window. It was suddenly clear to me why she didn't care about her paperwork. I'd heard that Tsunade had been made Hokage because she was the only qualified person. She didn't actually want this job. How horrible. She was stuck doing a job she didn't like because otherwise, Konoha would crumble.

I took the papers and placed them into the finished pile. It suddenly seemed like life wasn't very fair, if someone like Tsunade could be stuck with a job she hated just because she was so powerful.

I was relieved when I could finally leave. The job was boring but a nice change from the noisy restaurant.

Now, it was perfectly normal for me to have run into Lee at the Hokage tower today. He was a ninja after all, it was bound to happen sooner or later. It was mere coincidence that I had seen him walk into the ramen shop. Following him in was my fault. Hehe. What I discovered today though, explains why we met the first time. Why I hadn't suspected it beats me. Wait for it.

Drumroll!

Lee lived near my apartment! Surprised? I know I was. Here's how I found out: As I was walking home from work, I saw him enter a house, only two streets down from my building. Instead of an apartment, he owned a small house. I suppose that since ninjas did dangerous missions, they got paid more. Heck, I'd pay someone a lot if they were risking their lives to protect me.

Yep, that's my super-amazing story. I saw him walk into his house.

Oh god, maybe I _was_ a stalker!

You have to admit it though; it did explain how he'd been close by when I'd tripped at the grocery store. Sure, he could've just been around but this seemed much more likely. I wonder how I'd never noticed him before.

He hadn't seen me this time, thankfully, and I returned home and collapsed on my bed. It was only when my head was buried in the comforter that I remembered why he'd been in the Hokage's office earlier today. _Right._ Lee was going on an escort mission tomorrow. I wouldn't be seeing him for a few days.

Although I barely knew him and had only seen him a few times, I couldn't stop thinking about him and I was sad that he had to leave.

That's when I got an idea.

-o-

The next day, I got up early. Even for me. I wasn't sure at what time he had to leave but I'm guessing it should be near sunrise.

Just my luck it was raining out so I put on a pair of chocolate brown pants and a pink hoodie. It was still sorta warm out so I didn't put a shirt under the hoodie. I left but managed to stay relatively dry by walking under the roofs of multiple buildings the whole way.

Once I arrived, it looked like my theory about sunrise was confirmed even though the sun was currently hidden by the story clouds. Lee was shouldering a pack over his forest green jonin vest. It looked like he was going to take off soon and I doubted he would be walking to the gates of Konoha so I hurried to catch up.

"Lee!" I yelled, hoping he heard through the rain. Obviously ninjas have excellent hearing (or do they simply listen more?) so he turned around and spotted me.

"Korela-san. Hello! How are you this fine morning?" He asked, smiling, though I don't really need to tell you that by now. He's always smiling. "I'm doing fine though this isn't exactly what I'd call a 'fine morning'." I replied. I had stepped out into the rain to meet him and I now felt the cold drops of water dribbling onto my skull and rolling down under my shirt, where they evaporated and made the inside of my hoodie moist. My hand clutched the item in my pocket as I pulled it out of said pocket and held it out to him.

"Here Lee. I make these to thank people. I wanted to thank you for helping me when I dropped my groceries and for inviting me to eat with you and your friends yesterday. Thank you for being so nice Lee-san."

In my hand was a braided cord with green beads entwined in the braid. My father had shown me how to make them and I'd been giving them as thank you gifts since I was a kid. I liked doing this a lot better than sending stupid thank you notes. Lee blinked at it, surprised.

"I wear them as necklaces," I fingered today's, which had pale pink beads, "But you can put yours in your pack or something. I consider them good luck charms." God knows I need luck. _Good_ luck. Not bad luck. Good luck.

Lee smiled at me. Not one of his usual grins, but a smile. He took the braid from me and put it into one of his jonin vest's pockets. He thanked me happily and I mean even more so than usual. I wished him good luck on his mission, though I knew that if he used the same energy on mission that he used for real life, he should be able to survive without any adrenaline at all. Even if they were attacked.

Just as he turned away though, I called out without thinking, "Lee!" He turned. "Yes Korela-san?"

I searched my head for something to say. "Umm… When you get back from your mission… come say hi, okay?" My cheeks flushed. That sounded so cheesy that I wished I could snatch it back but I couldn't. His cheeks turned pink, probably from embarrassment. "Of course I will Korela-chan!" He exclaimed.

Korela-chan?

I was in an especially good mood that day at work. I kept humming, which annoyed Tsunade a lot. She'd tell me to shut up and shoot me glares but I couldn't seem to stop for more than a few minutes.

When I got home at 5:30, the phone rang. It was Aurelie. Remember, my best friend Aurelie. The idiot who's scared of mustaches? Yeah, her. She wanted to know about my new job. At some point though, we talked about the restaurant and she wouldn't stop bringing up Chouji. "Chouji said… and it was _so _funny!", "Chouji…" She even told me what he ate that day. I chose my next words carefully. She'd never been this chatty about her boyfriends. Yes, plural.

"Aurelie, are you interested in him?" Yes, these were my carefully chosen words. Had I simply hinted at it, she wouldn't have understood. We were friendly enough so I could say it directly. If anyone besides me had said it, she would've crawled through your window and strangled you as you slept. With me, she'd simply get a bit angry then forgive me. _Then _she'd realized how she felt, either positive or negative.

She hung up on me. Wow. She'd never done that before. I smirked, which was rare for me. I though it was an arrogant facial expression. She must really like him. Who would've guessed? Aurelie, a hot brunette, falling for a chubby ninja with swirls on his cheeks.

Apparently, I wasn't supposed to call him chubby, fat or over-weight under any circumstances. According to Aurelie.


	4. Chapter 4

It was when I was leaving home nearly a week later that I saw Lee again. I was leaving for work, again. I had already left my apartment so I was on the street when I looked back up at my door (completely by chance) and saw a bright green blob up there. I squinted my eyes before I recognized him and called out.

"Lee! Down here!" I shouted, waving my free arm happily. He spotted me I guess because he jumped down the building and landed in front of me. Wow. Ninja precision.

He grinned and I smiled in greeting. "So how did your mission go?" I asked, truly curious about it. I'd never really had any ninja friends. "It went well! The group needed to go to the land of Snow though so it took a little while." He replied, happy about it. I blinked in surprise. It only took him a wee to go to and from the Snow country?! Impossible! And yet, I knew it wasn't, not for him anyways.

I noticed a scroll in his hand. It looked similar to many of the scrolls Tsunade received from ninjas that I wasn't allowed to read. It was his mission report, I realized. "Lee, you came to see me before brining in your report to Tsunade-sama!?" I exclaimed,grabbiong his hand, though I was somewhat touched by it. Surprisingly, his cheeks turned a faint shade of pink and I was struck by the feeling that he hadn't even thought about it. He glanced at my hand and I hurriedly let go.

"Well, you wanted me to come and see you after my mission so…" Lee seemed somewhat shy for the first time since I'd met him. I suddenly felt bad; I had asked him to come see me after all so I shouldn't be making him feel embarrassed about it. I'd meant it but I could tell he hadn't even showered yet. He was filthy and smelled like dirt and dried up sweat.

"Yes I did want to see you. Are you heading to the Hokage tower right now?"

"Yes, I have to hand in my report! You are heading to work right Korela-san?"

"Right. You don't have to call me Korela-san by the way. Korela is just fine. I'm not crazy about formalities."

He nodded. We were walking now. After a certain amount of time, we had arrived and finished climbing the tower stairs (thankfully without a piggyback ride). Lee lifted hi hand to knock on the door before I stopped him. "You don't need to knock if I'm going in too, waste of energy." Then I walked in. He hesitated for a second but walked in after me. Tsunade looked up from her work.

"Again? You got a damn escort now Korela?" She was just messing with me so I simply grumbled as I sat down at my desk.

"Tsunade-sama! Here is my mission report."

The blond leader took the report he held out to her and unrolled it. As she began to read, she dismissed him. He said goodbye to us (with a huge smile) and left.

Judging by the noise, he didn't _walk_ down the stairs.

As I prepared my reports for the day, I noticed Tsunade looking at me with a knowing look. I had a really bad feeling growing in my gut. I knew what she suspected. Thus, I avoided her gaze to avoid extremely embarrassing conversation. Nonetheless, when she shook her head and sighed "Young love," I just couldn't help myself.

"Lee and I aren't in love!" I snapped, glaring at the Hokage. I normally showed respect but I had found that she didn't mind it when I talked to her like this. Infact, I think she thrived on arguments, considering how worked up she got whenever Naruto came in.

At first, I'd been surprised to see him but gradually, his continuous demands for hard missions became normal. So did Tsunade's " IF THERE AREN'T ANY, THERE AREN'T ANY! WHY CAN'T YOU UNDERSTAND THAT YOU KNUCKLE-HEAD?" In fact, he'd come in about Lee's mission. It went something like this:

"Why would you give bushy brows and Neji's team a mission you coulda given me, huh old lady?"

Tsunade smiled tightly, even with an angry vein popping out of her forehead and looking like she would kill anything. Even a puppy. "It was a C-rank mission, Naruto. I thought you wanted A or S rank? Hmmm?" Naruto blew up, "YOU SENT ME BABYSITTING!!!!"

"ARGH! SHUT UP YOU BRAT!" And she promptly threw him out a window. I'd already seen her do it to him a few times so I just snickered.

Now, she didn't throw _me_ out a window. I wouldn't survive that. She gave me a smug look.

See, I'm a quiet person. I'm not super shy, like Hinata, and I'm not really afraid of telling people what I think, as long as it fits some rules like, for example, if telling them what I think would hurt them more than anything else, I'll shut up. Sometimes, you have to calculate your actions instead of following one moral. Anyways, like I was saying, I'm just quiet. Maybe because somewhere inside of me, I know that when I say stupid things, I have to face the consequences. I had when I asked my father about the origins of my name.

I was going to face consequences now.

She launched then into a speech about denial, attraction and hormones. Her speech developed into one about protection, loyalty, knowing he's the one and love. It ended as a speech about proposals, marriage and babies.

My jaw must've been wide open because she burst out laughing. I was relieved she was just joking. I didn't want to come back tomorrow and see a pack of condoms on my desk.

I know, horrible thought.

I got through the day (thankfully) and went to the ramen stand where Hinata and I had planned to eat that night. We'd bumped into each other and had decided to eat together sometime.

While talking to her, I learned a bit about her. Her favorite color was yellow, she and Naruto didn't live together yet but they were considering buying an apartment. She and Naruto had been together since they were 17. I equally told her things about me; my parent's restaurant, how I hated red wine and my favorite color was dark purple.

Once I got to Ichiraku's, Hinata had already arrived. She looked tired and Naruto was there, trying to comfort her.

"What's up Hinata?" I asked as I approached. She smiled softly at me though her eyes stayed sad. Naruto answered for her, "Neji, Hinata's cousin, is in the hospital. He came back from a mission in the Snow country but apparently the whole team came back with an illness." He didn't look at me until the end of the explination, seeing as Hinata wasn't going to meet his gaze, preferring to stare down at the table.

It took me a second to recognize the name and the mission.I gulped. "You say the whole team got sick. Does that mean Lee got sick too?" It seemed nearly impossible. He was so full of energy it seemed unbelievable that a disease could drain him of it. Yet, Naruto nodded. "But I saw Lee today! He seemed fine then." I argued weakly. Naruto's head snapped upand he looked at me sharply. "You saw Lee this morning?"

"Y-Yeah," I stuttered, taken completely by surprise. What was with him? He exchanged a glance with Hinata, who'd looked up briefly. "Korela-san, you need to got to the hospital…" he said, hesitantly.

It was like a bucket of cold water had been dumped over my head, my heart skipped a beat and my breath was caught in my throat. Hinata saw the look on my face and tried to explain, "I-It's an illness the p-people in Snow h-have dev-developped antibodies ag-against. Wh-When Lee's team w-went, they c-caught it b-but only realized it t-this afternoon."

I held my hand up to signal her to stop. "Wait wait. You're trying to say I might've caught it from Lee today?" She nodded. My thoughts rushed by, "I was working today. If I did get it, could I have given it to Tsunade-sama?"

I felt a huge pressure being taken off my chest when Hinata shook her head furiously, "No, the v-virus is only active after about t-two days of con-contamination, long before the sym-symptoms show. B-Besides, it's transmitted through touch." I was about to argue but I suddenly remembered me taking Lee's hand. Naruto and Hinata offered to accompany me to the hospital and I didn't refuse. As we headed towards the huge hospital building, Hinata assured me that as long as you had proper care, this disease wasn't deadly. I also learned that she'd been with her cousin when she noticed that he suddenly had trouble holding everyday objects. Suddenly, he'd collapsed, as if he couldn't support the weight of his own body. Not only that, but he'd spilled scalding hot tea over… sensitive areas. At least, that was what Naruto whispered to me.

When we arrived, Hinata spoke quietly with one of the doctors, heads bent over so I couldn't hear what they were saying. Not that it mattered. All it meant was that I might have an illness. I wrinkled my nose, stomach churning at the sterilized smell of the hospital. I'd only been in this hospital twice. Once when my sister was born and another when I broke my arm badly.

An hour later, I'd been prodded and poked, had them take a blood sample, let them test the pressure and strength of my arm, listen to my heartbeat and test my reactions. I was fed up. Does it hurt when I do this? No. How about this? No. THWAK! And that? YES!!! YOU HIT ME YOU MORON!!! Good, that was supposed to hurt.

So there I was, in the doctor's office as he flipped through my medical file. Alright, I guess I was a bit nervous now. He set the document down and looke at me. Right in the eye. I shifted uncomfortably in my seat.

Then he burst out laughing. I blinked then realization hit me and my eyes narrowed in annoyance. "Haha, scared you for a while there huh?" he grinned. I simply scowled at him. He smiled even wider but then became slightly more serious. "No, you didn't contract the illness, luckily. From what I can see, you're in excellent health." He paused, "You've broken your arm before right?" A bit confused, I nodded. "Yeah, I can see where it's been set. Quite well, of course, set by yours truly." He winked, "I remember you a bit. You were that little girl ten years ago. You were actually my first patient." I laughed a bit.

I also remembered something. "Hey doctor? The disease is transmitted by touch right?" He nodded, "Well then, can I visit my friend, as long as I don't touch him?" The doctor seemed to consider this then smiled at me and nodded. "Rock Lee is in room 516B." I'm guessing Hinata told him from whom I might've caught it from. I was about to leave when he stopped me. "I have just one request. I'd like all visitors to wears there plastic gloves while visiting those patients. Just a safety measure." I nodded and took the gloves he offered me.

I reached the room with the powdery gloves on my hands and I knocked before opening the door. When I walked in, I was surprised to see a green man sitting with his back to me in a chair, facing the bed. For a second, I thought it was Lee but the the man turned around and I saw he was older and his eyes much more narrow than Lee. We stared at each other.

By the looks on our faces, we were probably both wondering 'Who is this?'


	5. Chapter 5

**Interlude: Aurelie**

Aurelie fumed as she stormed down the streets of Konoha. She hadn't heard from Korela in over five days! Kobra- Porno- Butterfly girl wasn't allowed to do that!

She arrived at the big shamefully yellow building where Korela lived. She made sure to make as much noise as she could as she was going up; making the neighbors shut their binds. Great, they thought, the crazy girl was back. The pervert that owned the apartment next to Korela's was the only one still staring at her with half-closed eyes and his mouth open. Aurelie would bet anything the guy was high as hell.

She gave him the finger as she passed by. He made a circle with his left hands and jerked his right index finger through it, making an obscene gesture. The brown haired girl backed up to face his window and slammed her fist onto the glass. She didn't hit hard enough to make the glass break but hard enough to make him jump back in surprise. He stumbled backwards and tripped. He fell and stayed down as Aurelie continued on her way. She arrived to the familiar door. She didn't even recognize it by the number anymore, which was 167. She knew where it was by heart, of course, but she _knew_ it was the right door because, about three years ago, during the winter, Aurelie had come to see Korela but she hadn't arrived yet. So she'd waited. Yet, Aurelie wasn't the most patient person on the planet so she'd carved a smiley face on the door with her nails to amuse herself. When Korela had come home and seen the smiley face, she'd given Aurelie her spare key, asking her to please not draw on her door anymore. It wasn't a freaking sketchbook.

Aurelie decided to give the girl a fighting chance, for once. She pounded on the door, knowing she was a light sleeper (Not that she'd be asleep at 8pm), and screamed, making all the other tenants flinch (except for the pervert, who was looking at the _pretty colors_ on his ceiling). "HEY YOU LITTLE PRICK! OPEN THE FRICKIN DOOR!!!!" she waited and listened for noise of any sort, "DON'T MAKE ME LET MYSELF IN!!!!" she yelled.

Once she saw there was absolutely no reaction from the other side, she dramatically withdrew her keys, dangling them in front of the door, as if daring it to stop her. The door did nothing, smiley face looking cheerfully at her. She put the key in the lock, turned and pushed the door open, letting it creak painfully. Man, she thought, Korela really needs to oil that thing. She purposefully ignored the fact that she loved the dramatic effect it created.

"Korelaaaaaa…" she crooned sweetly as she let herself into the dark apartment. She shut the door and, hearing the quiet click, the rest of the neighbors breathed freely, relieved that the monster was out of their vicinity. Aurelie narrowed her eyes as she sneakily checked the kitchen and living room, both of which were much smaller than her own. Hers were bigger because she could afford them, working part-time as a model. The main reason she didn't work full-time was because she and her agent got on each other's nerves.

She humped as it finally sunk in that Korela wasn't home. The slim girl stormed into her friend's room and plopped down on the dark purple bed, crossing her arms. Fine, she'd wait here, she thought, a grin slowly spreading across her face.

She'd show Korela how much she'd missed her. Michiru was nice but it was obvious she was trying, in a good way, to fill in the gap Korela had left at the restaurant. A gap she'd never properly fill, with all the effort in the world. Every person was their own and could never be replaced.

So Aurelie waited, for once patiently, for her friend to come home. That was when she caught sight of the pile of sheets on Korela's wooden desk.


	6. Chapter 6

I'll admit, I thought he was Lee's father. I mean, come on! The resemblance was there! Still, I asked to be sure, "This is Rock Lee's room right?" The man nodded and pulled up a chair from the side. Awkwardly, I went over and sat down in it. Why was I so awkward around people lately? Oh, right, they sorta freaked me out.

I was surprised and yet not surprised when the man turned to me and grinned, much like Lee. "And who would you be young flower?" he asked with a familiar energy.

Young flower?

Just go alone with it. Ignore the weird terms, my mind coaxed me. "My name is Okasawa Korela. I'm a… friend of Lee's." I said, a bit hesitant when mentioning my being a friend. I guess I was. He burst into fake, silly-looking tears and held his fist up in the air. "Lee never told me he was popular with girls." He sobbed. I burst out laughing, finding this strange man very funny.

"So are you Lee's father?" I asked, still smiling. He paused from his tears long enough to look at Lee's sleeping form proudly. "No, I am not but he is my favorite pupil!"

"So you're his sensei? Then why aren't you sick too? I thought they said the whole team was sick?" I asked, now a little confused. "Oh, at some point, a team no longer needs it's sensei to complete missions. I did not go on this mission with them." I nodded and looked back at Lee as his sensei seemed to calm down a bit. He didn't look like he was dying but he did look sick. His normally tanned skin was paler and there was just something… tired about him.

I didn't stay long, maybe only ten minutes. I mean, I felt weird looking at someone I had only met along with someone who had known him for a long time. I said goodbye to Lee (Not that he could reply) and the man, who'd introduced himself as Maito Gai.

-o-

I sighed as I looked at my watch. It was already 8:45pm. I'd stopped by for some dango after my visit to the hospital because I was starving and I just didn't feel like heading back to the ramen stand, especially since Hinata wouldn't be there. The dango shop was on my way.

Well, I thought, it's not that late so I probably have time to work on my project. I was about halfway through, but I had a lot of fine tuning to do. As I was reaching my door, I glanced into the pervert's window. He was on his knees, grasping the side of a table, eyes wide as they followed the band hanging off his clock go back and forth. I sped up a bit. He was obviously high today.

I put my key in the lock but found that I had accidentally left my door unlocked before leaving. Oh well, if anyone wanted to steal from me they wouldn't even think to try the door, they'd just go through that still broken window.

Yes, it was still broken. I know I need to get it fixed.

I made sure to lock the door behind me though, last thing I needed was for the pervert next door to find his way in.

I threw my stuff on the couch in the living room, promising to pick it up tomorrow. I went into my room and flicked on the lights. I nearly screamed when I saw Aurelie's face, glaring menacingly at me. Then I remembered she was harmless.

Okay, maybe I should've screamed.

"Whoa, hey Aurelie, nice to see you've made yourself at home." I said, as I gesture my messed up bed and papers spread out all over the floor. I bent down to start picking them up but looked back up at her as she said nothing and continued to glare. Okay, this was creepy; Aurelie wasn't the silently angry type of person. She looked seriously pissed off too.

"Hey Aurelie, are you okay?" I asked, though I was getting an idea of what had happened. She had read my papers, I realized with a sinking sensation. "When you quit working at the restaurant," she started  
"You never told us you had no intention of coming back."

Here it was. It was time to explain to Aurelie. I hadn't wanted to tell her until I was finished but I guess I didn't really have a choice anymore.

"You know I've always loved reading and I got the best grades in our creative writing back in school right?" she nodded, "Well, I talked to you about it when we were 18, remember?" I asked. Her brows furrowed for a moment before her eyes brightened as she remembered. "So, this is that book you wanted to write?" she asked incredulously, gesturing the papers spread on the floor. I nodded. "Yeah, the series I wanted to write. I've been working on it for the past year and a half."

We were silent for a few minutes as we picked up my papers. I think she was still trying to understand. I wasn't going to apologize though; not for doing something I loved doing.

I put both piles together, knowing I would have to put them back in order when Aurelie spoke. "So where were you today?" The thing I loved most was that she never asked someone for an apology. You weren't sorry; she didn't want you to pretend you were.

I told her about the sickness and how Lee was in the hospital along with his two other teammates. She looked genuinely concerned with his well being, and mine. In return, I asked her about Chouji and she said she hadn't seen him for a couple of days.

We continued idle conversation for about half an hour before falling silent for a while. She spoke first, "Just… let me read it before anyone else." I smiled; relieved things would work out, "Sure, in fact, after I put them back in order, I can lend you want I've done so far. I've got a lot of fine tuning to do though. Maybe you could help a little if you want."

She scoffed and told me whatever, that I was such a nerd. I turned away, knowing she wanted to. She left a few minutes later and as I was organizing my papers, I thought about Lee again. Tomorrow was a Thursday so I had a day off. I could go see him at the hospital. Maybe even stay a little longer than today if his sensei wasn't there.


	7. Chapter 7

As I promised, I let Aurelie read every single page. Turns out she hadn't actually read them but thrown them on the floor, frustrated. She only read the first and last page. Congratulations Aurelie. Truly, congratulations.

I dropped the papers off at her house, barging in because she never locked her door. She said she didn't have to. Her neighbor was a body builder that was always home and treated her like a sister. She had a killer scream too. By killer, I really mean killer. I think people can actually die if they receive it directly in their ears. I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy. Well… Maybe my worst enemy.

As I had promised myself, I headed towards the hospital to visit Lee. Once I reached his room, I did something completely childish. I stuck my head in quietly to see if his sensei was there. I stuck it out and my mind processed the fact that he was not there. A nurse in the corridor narrowed her eyes suspiciously at me and I simply grinned and waved like an idiot. Then I rushed in. I looked at the bed and saw no one. Then I noticed a slight blur behind the bed. I leaned over it and saw my favorite blob of speed doing pushups on the floor. Really fast. It's not like it was humiliating to watch because of the fact that I knew I could only do 10 in a row but…

He didn't notice me and continued intensely, concentrating solely on what his body was doing. A drop of sweat dripped from his forehead and he kept going, the muscles pulsing in his arms suggesting he had been doing this for some time. I got a strange shiver down my spine and a twisting feeling in my stomach. I gulped and tried to brush off my sudden nervousness. "I don't think you're supposed to do that while your hospitalized Lee," I said, making him look up in surprise, concentrated look replaced by his usual one. "Korela-san!" he exclaimed and hugged me from over the bed. It was endearing yet awkward because we were both leaning from opposite sides of the bed.

The nurse glaring at me in the corridor chose that moment to enter the room and quickly turned red. I can't even think what it looked like we were doing from behind. "I'm so sorry!" she yelled, quickly leaving and slamming the door. Lee and I looked at the door wide eyed and he let go. I should've said something then but, brilliant as I am, I didn't say anything and we shifted into a kind of awkward silence.

He started the conversation again and it didn't stay awkward for long. After all, this was Lee we were talking about. The only time it felt weird was when I smelled him. He smelled like sweat, but strangely, it was attractive. I don't know how to explain it but… it kills me to say this but he smelled like a man. I instantly felt the urge to flee. Fight and flight Korela, fight and flight. I wasn't stupid either; I knew what I was starting to feel. No Korela, I thought, you are not going to get a crush on your friend. Ugh, I hated that word; crush. It sounded so juvenile and stupid. Hihi, I have a crush, hihi!

No. Just no.

More like, I was starting to feel attracted to my friend. My ninja friend. I never thought I would see the day. It had always been clear in my mind that ninja men went out with awesome ninja women, not civilian girls. Aurelie was an exception, she was always an exception. I, however, had always fit into the rule. Besides, any possible sappy thoughts of ninjas were destroyed when one pushed me off a roof when I was eleven. I had climbed up there with Aurelie and some ninja about our age, still at the academy, had been up there too. Two of the guys started whistling at Aurelie, gorgeous even at that age, and she grew annoyed. She yelled at them to leave her alone and we went to go to the other side when they blocked our path. I was fed up too and told them, "Hey, scram, she doesn't want you to even look at her moron." Yet the thing with them is they thought themselves superior because they were soon-to-be ninjas and I apparently wasn't their object of interest. So it pissed them off more than anything else. One of them pushed me but I think he was used to pushing people a bit steadier than me. Result was, he pushed too hard and I stumbled backwards. Problem was, I had been near the edge and I fell off.

I landed on my arm and broke it. I heard Aurelie yelling like a banshee, along with some of their friends, about it being not cool to hit a girl. If I recall correctly, Aurelie actually broke the guy's nose. Funny what even a civilian can manage to do when she's angered.

I had gotten it set by that doctor and I was okay and everything but some little part of my mind always remembered it.

We were both sitting on the bed now and I unconsciously leaned nearer to him. Once I realized it however, I leaned away quickly. He only noticed me backing away from him and got a confused look in his eyes but then continued. I scowled myself inwardly. What was with me today?

"So when are you getting out?" I asked Lee, feeling really silly. He smiled, "They have declared me cured! To make sure, they shall keep me until Saturday." He looked positively happy about this. I guess it was pretty good time. Cured form a disease and released from the hospital within days. Looks like here in Konoha, we had superman doctors.

"That's great!" I exclaimed. "We could see each other that day," I added, with barely any thought to what I was saying. Then I realized and I froze up. He nodded enthusiastically though, and said, "That'd be great!"

Did I just plan a date with Rock Lee?

Here's a piece of advice to myself: Shut up. You do more harm than good Korela, much more harm. Now I doomed, I thought as I watched him smiled and felt my stomach do flip flops.


	8. Chapter 8

_I know I said I wouldn't put author's notes up here but I can't help it . I feel closer to you guys this way. I really appreciate the reviews and I always reread them, they're what keeps me going or else I probably would give up with so many exams. Placement exams Monday, wish me luck :3_

_-o-_

This morning didn't start off too well. My alarm clock decided today would be a good day to be stupid. I woke up an hour and four minutes later than I was planning to.

Next, I realized it was Saturday.

And so, I stumbled out of my room and started my obligatory morning coffee. I went into the bathroom and started brushing my teeth after eating a banana. We all know how hard it is to eat in the morning.

The doorbell rang just at the moment where my mouth was extremely foamy and I couldn't spit it out because I knew my teeth wouldn't be clean and I wouldn't have the patience to start over. I answered the door and was surprised to see Lee. I know I shouldn't have been surprised, even if I woke up late. It was still early for most people. I tried to say something but it mostly came out like this: "Huurr, whuz ouu doen hrrr?"

Of course, I still had a foamy toothbrush stuffed in my mouth.

I let him in after he looked at me strangely. I then proceeded back to my bathroom and spit out the offending foam. I came back out and he smiled at me, "It looks like you are ready for a youthful morning of laps!" he said enthusiastically. I blinked then looked down at my pajamas. A pink tank top with gray sweat pants. I looked back at him, "Actually Lee, these are my pajamas-." He cut me off, "Let us go now Korela!" he exclaimed. I don't think he really heard what I was trying to say.

I only managed to break away from him long enough to put my bra on under along with a pair of socks and shoes. He did let me lock my door and didn't question the smiley face, if he even saw it.

We started jogging there, on the streets. I tried to keep up as I thought about my poor abandoned coffee. I sniffed. Poor thing probably thought I didn't want it. But I wanted it so _bad._

I'll admit, I was in good health but I wasn't exactly an athlete. He was so I was sweating a lot before he even broke one little drop. He seems to have the stamina of a bull, I thought as I glared at his back. He was getting farther and farther away. You don't even want to know how long we jogged at seven in the morning. I'm a wimp.

But I'm an honest wimp… Most of the time.

Okay, seriously though, my pride was starting to take a little beating. Wasn't this guy just released from the hospital?

Suddenly, his pace slowed until he was next to me and pulled my hand so I would quicken my pace. If my face hadn't already been red, I would've blushed.

Many people would argue that this was Lee. You couldn't get a crush on him, he was just too ridiculous. Well, he's muscled. Very much so. And tanned. Yum.

Someone kill me now!

He let go of my hand and my pace slowed. Once again, he was getting further and further away and at some point, I couldn't stand it anymore. I slowed down until I was at a decent walking pace. I looked around. Great, I didn't recognize this part of Konoha.

I could've cried when I saw a small shop selling coffee. I fished into my pockets and found, much to my surprise, a crumpled bill. I bought a cup and just wandered in the general direction I thought Lee had gone. People were looking at me strangely. Haha, stare at the girl in sweat pants, drinking coffee in the streets with unbrushed curly hair. Haha.

I looked across the street and saw this ANBU woman with a dog mask looking at me. At least, I think she was looking at me. You could never really tell with those masks. She started off in my direction and I kept walking, expecting her to continue past me. She started following me however, and I was a little freak out. I rationalized, maybe she was just going in the same direction.

I turned various random corners, Lee momentarily forgotten. She followed me down to the last step. Now I was seriously freaking out. Female stalker! What had Aurelie told me incase this happened? Hit 'em in the crotch. Wait, she didn't say anything about female! And even if I did try to hit her in the crotch, she was a freaking ANBU, she'd probably block it and break my arm. AH!

Calm down, calm down, I told myself in my best inner voice. Think about your book and at some point, she'll get bored and go away. Think about Beru and Tai and the forgotten tomb and the graveyard and the ANBU stalker and the sword… Wait, there was no ANBU stalker in my story!

Then she picked up her pace and I felt her hand brush mine. I pushed down the temptation to simply run away, and picked up my own pace, her's went even faster. In the end, I did end up running and she hased after me. "AHHH!" I cried as I escaped through another alley. She nearly silently bounded after me.

She jumped on my back and I fell to the ground, spilling my coffee. It stained my shirt and she whispered into my ear, "I like you. "

Then she was gone.

And I was traumatized for life.

I went quickly back into the streets, looking more disheveled than ever. I saw Lee speaking with his female teammate and they seemed to be looking for someone. His teammate spotted me first and her eyes brightened as she pointed to me and said something to Lee. They came jogging over.

"Where have you been Korela?" he asked me, eyes a bit wide. I took in a big breath, then let it out. "You will not believe what happened to me," I started.


	9. Chapter 9

_Thanks for the reviews everyone. Sorry about the slow updating, prom was one hell of a party. Paaarty :3 Rum x3_

_There's only one thing vexing me: I'm getting attention for this story which I put practically no effort into but my other story, which I worked really hard on, is getting no attention. I don't understand…_

_-o-_

I hate being laughed at. Unfortunately, it seemed to happen a lot.

Alright, maybe Tenten wasn't laughing at _me_, maybe she was just laughing at the situation, BUT it was a very serious situation! I'm not lesbian!

Lee didn't seem to be taking it too seriously either, which sort of surprised me.

"What, doesn't it seem serious to you guys?" I asked tearfully, "I was abused in an alley."

"Well," Tenten said, giggling, "It wasn't very smart to run into the alley in the first place. Besides, I doubt this is a dangerous situation. Someone's probably just playing a prank on you."

"Yes Korela, I doubt this person should really want to hurt you." Said Lee, looking at me with his big eyes. I scowled at him.

"Sure, easy for you guys to say, you weren't nearly raped." I huffed, crossing my arms.

"Don't be angry Korela-san!" cried Lee and put his arms around me. I blushed but kept my arms crossed until he let me go. I then made the mistake of establishing eye contact with Tenten. You can't control a blush. She looked weirded out at my blush and started shifting eyes between Lee and me. I turned away and thought how I'd have to be a bit more subtle. Ok, I thought to myself, next time you're about to blush, do what Aurelie told you to do to control your feelings: Think of a fat, greasy old man with bunny ears.

I felt the blush go away but the mental image made my stomach cramp as I controlled the laughter it had conjured up.

"Well, now that I have found you once again, we can continue jogging!" said Lee enthusiastically as he darted ahead, leaving me and Tenten behind. She looked at my clothes, "You actually jog in that?" she asked, raising an eyebrow at the too-large pants. I shook my head.

"These are my pajamas."

"You jog in your pajamas?"

"No! I woke up late and he arrived earlier than I had planned and he dragged me out in my pajamas!"

"Why didn't you just ask him to let you get dress?"

"I felt I didn't have much of a say in the matter."

"Hmm," Tenten regarded me, "Let me tell you one thing: With Lee, you only have to ask for something nicely and he'll do practically anything, especially for his friends. It's just his personality."

I blinked. This could be useful. I'd have to test its credibility later. "Uh, thanks." I said. I wasn't too sure why she was telling me this. She turned back to Lee, who was jogging. Then she excused herself and left, muttering something about having her own training to do with Neji.

I approached Lee a bit, "Hey Lee!" I called. He stopped and turned to me, ridiculous black eyes fixed on me. "I think I'm going to go home. I'm a bit of a messy," I said, indicating my stained top.

He nodded, "I will walk you home," he said. I shook my head, "You don't have to. Besides, you probably have some training to do too." I added, thinking of all the training Hinata had told me about. Speaking of Hinata, I'd have to find her again; I hadn't seen her since she brought me to the hospital. Such a sweet girl. At the moment though, Lee seemed to think a little and admitted he had someone to meet up with soon.

"Well, I won't hold you up. Thanks for bringing me jogging, Lee." I said.

"You are welcome," He said.

Clumsily, we said goodbye. Then there was that instant where you say goodbye but you feel like it should be more than just words, so I hesitantly hugged him. I felt him stiffen with surprise but then he returned the brief hug. I let go and was surprised to look up and see his face pink. Not the light pink I had seen before but a shade slightly darker. Crap, I thought, I embarrassed him.

Well, it was good to know he was as embarrassed as I was. Misery loves company.

As I walked home, I kicked a stone in frustration. Why was I acting like a stupid, lovesick teenager? I was twenty one! I'd thought I'd grown out of this, but no! I hadn't acted this way upon meeting my boyfriend. Then again, there hadn't been much of a connection between Noboru and I. Don't get me long, I had loved him while I was with him but it wasn't supposed to last forever.

And so, I went home. Not exactly the kind of thing I was expecting in a somewhat good and bad way.

Leaning a bit towards bad.

-o-

I later found myself at Aurelie's, on the couch, with a spoon of ice cream in my mouth. I was laying lazily, sprawled upon it as I told her what I had indured. She looked at me as a psychologist would look at her patient, notebook and all.

"And then," I continued tearfully, "I started running cause I was really starting to panic and she chased after me! Did you know ninjas make practically no noise when they move? You did? Well, _I_ didn't know. Anyways, then she _tackled_ me and whispered 'I like you'! Like as in what? I think she was lesbian and now I'll never be able to freely room the streets again without fearing ANBU women wearing dog masks because I'll be afraid they'll try to rape me!" I finished with a wail.

Aurelie patted the ice cream tub and I dug my spoon in it.

"So Korela," she glanced at her notes (which I would bet anything had doodles scribbled all over them), "Have you not thought of the possibility of just telling her to _back off_ if she continues? Or maybe by like you she was simply saying she liked your style or your way of doing things? Let me remind you thet you've stalked people before too, to base a character off them."

"Well, yeah, but that's different," I said defensively, "I didn't tackle them in empty alleys now did I?"

"No, but you did freak them out a little."

"Noboru liked it."

"Noboru also liked butterflies but you don't go near them now do you?"

I shook my head and shuddered as I thought of the colorful little demons. They were pretty to look at but I couldn't stand the way I could feel their legs when they landed on me or the fact that they had disgusting long bodies and big bulging eyes, sticking out of their little heads. After being creeped out by that, I could barely stand the very sight of them.

Despite all this, she managed to cheer me up and I went home a happier person.

I was getting ready for bed that night and all that Aurelie had said to me made sense now. She probably wasn't lesbian and had been referring to something else. I was perfectly safe even if she was, she was an ANBU after all, and I worked for the Hokage.

With these comforting thoughts, I eased myself into bed and turned to turn off my light when I glimpsed a face through my window. It was a white dog's face. I let out a shriek and shut the curtains violently. I clutched my bed sheets and stared wide eyed at the wall across from me.

Great, she was watching me sleep. I whimpered.


	10. Chapter 10

Hey guys, it's me… Obviously. As much as it hurts me to say it, I've reviewed this story and have decided to rewrite it. I haven't updated in a while but I love my original idea of this story and since I lost inspiration with the way I was doing it, I decided to do a different version. Please please PLEASE ! If any of you have suggestion for me, things I should maybe include, excluded, avoid, scenes that could be revise, things you think would be funny in the new version, anything, please tell me. It will really help me write the new version which I will try to get out soon, but I'm not making any promises as of when, seeing as I already don't get enough sleep. It'll be a project for my 2 hour breaks. I would really appreciate any comments anyone has to say. Thank you and I'm sorry to make you guys go through this!


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